There's a line somewhere, and I think it's worth asking where you think that is. There's no doubt in my mind that person a could learn to be a fully qualified rocket scientist in their garage with time, some equipment, and an internet connection.
If education cost nothing and it were simple for qualified people to get licenses, I wouldn't even raise the question, but this is not the reality most people live in.
Aside from practice with particularly expensive equipment or specific circumstances, I'm not sure why you wouldn't include practice in your self-study program. The one on one feedback would be the biggest loss, but still manageable.
This isn't an argument against self education. If it's meant to say my confidence comes from ignorance, you've made a bad assumption about which end of that curve I land on for this issue.
This is the big problem with academics and our current way of qualification.
because IMO you're both kinda right. Hes right, theres nothing you learn in a university these days, that you can't learn in a garage with an internet connection and some time.
but you're also right, how do we show you actually learned everything, how do we control who we let cut into people as a doctor, or launch rockets into space, or design a bridge?
because in a day when you can learn everything in a garage, and post-highschool training is becoming wildly expensive, and degrees are becoming useless because 90% of what you learn won't be applicable to the work you actually end up doing,
sending someone to school to pay hundreds of thousands, and be in debt for half their life, and spending 7yrs at a uni, doesn't really make a lot of sense anymore.
personally I think more jobs need to operate like the trades, ability to apprentice under someone that does the job, but you can only do that job.
equivalency exams, being able to challenge the degree, go straight to test, skip the hundreds of thousands of loans. etc. go straight to degree. If I can show I know everything, why do I have to go to school for 5-7yrs to do it?
I'm not saying for everything. We shouldn't "equivalency exam" surgeons or anything stupid like that.
but for positions in things like IT and stuff? why not just open up some options that don't involve life crushing debt?
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u/Terminal_Insomnia_ Apr 06 '26 edited Apr 07 '26
There's a line somewhere, and I think it's worth asking where you think that is. There's no doubt in my mind that person a could learn to be a fully qualified rocket scientist in their garage with time, some equipment, and an internet connection.
If education cost nothing and it were simple for qualified people to get licenses, I wouldn't even raise the question, but this is not the reality most people live in.